These moments can be disorienting and distressing, turning what is normally a source of comfort into something confusing and difficult to navigate.
“Praying in Islam must be in a particular sequence, meaning I must pray in a certain order at a given time for my prayer to be completed. However, I often lose the ability to remember the sequence and unfortunately forget how and when to pray. This creates confusion and frustration among people as they regularly believe I am wasting time and being disrespectful,” she said.
Tayyibah not only finds it hard knowing how much her memory has been affected by her epilepsy but also struggles with
attitudes towards her epilepsy.
“I am surrounded by siblings and friends always talking and laughing about their childhood memories. They are all expressing happiness and joy, but unfortunately, I cannot recall most of my childhood memories as they have been erased by seizures. It feels so fair and unjust.
“I am often accused of being rude and thoughtless because I have a poor memory. People often describe me as a walking, talking disaster or accident-prone. Even people who are aware I have a poor memory can get frustrated from time to time or allow their anger to get the better of them.
“I want people to understand epilepsy and the severity of seizures, and that poor memory is inevitable due to seizure activity. The fact that people discriminate and fail to present a sensitive approach towards epilepsy in the 21st century is a projection of their naivety and ignorance towards the condition.”